Amazon's Jeff Wilke Is Betting on US Manufacturing — and LA
Former CEO of Amazon Consumer Worldwide Jeff Wilke has moved to Los Angeles part-time, where he is focused on investing in underrepresented founders and restoring American manufacturing prowess. We talked to him about what he learned about his time at Amazon and what's coming next.
What Warner Music's Partnerships with Wave and Genies Means
The musicians in Warner Music's roster will soon be able to more easily livestream their concerts, create avatars and sell digital merch — including NFTs — after the company inked partnerships with two L.A. entertainment startups: Genies and Wave. Is it a new era for digital music?
SCALE Aerospace's Accelerator Cohort
A jet designer that aims to make supersonic flight available to the masses, a durable 3-D printer maker and a company trying to improve post-disaster and space communication — all are among SCALE Aerospace Ventures' 2021 accelerator class. Get to know the new space startups in town.
Using Deepfake Technology for Movie Dubbing
Director Scott Mann began searching for a new way to dub films into other languages after watching his 2015 film "Heist" in German. Now, he's launched a new startup that uses AI and "deepfake" technology to make voice dubbing flawless — just as foreign box offices are becoming more important than ever for Hollywood.
Stripe for Cannabis Companies
Bespoke Financial has been lending to legal cannabis businesses, but it has much bigger ambitions. After an $8 million raise, the L.A.-based company is developing software to streamline point of sale systems for a tricky industry.
EV Charging Comes to LA's Ports
Volkswagen has been installing fast electric vehicle charging stations across California. Its Electrify America subsidiary — born out of the settlement from VW's 2015 emissions scandal — has pledged $25 million to help electrify the trucking industry at the ports of L.A. and Long Beach.
The Honest Co's Very Good Day
Jessica Alba's The Honest Company made a strong debut in its first day of public trading. Its stock—trading under HNST — closed up 43% from its opening price, before losing steam later in the week. Honest has never made a profit but saw gross margins soar by 35.9% last year as the pandemic drove sales of sanitizing products.
Startup of the Week: Kajabi
Kajabi is a subscription service designed for content creators and "knowledge entrepreneurs" building businesses online. The startup offers digital tools to build websites, newsletters, online courses and membership programs. On Tuesday, the Irvine-based company closed a $550 million round valuing it at $2 billion.
Weekly Graphic: The Decline of Pay TV
Ryff, a stealthy L.A.-based startup founded in 2018, has been using gaming technology to develop a method for product placement in film and TV. The company sees itself poised to ride the wave of non-pay streaming services by offering them a means of generating ad-based revenue.
Building on Hip Hop's Legacy
LL COOL J's new ecommerce and live events brand Rock the Bells is one of the few brands literally owned and operated by many of the artists who created the culture. We sat down with its president, James Cuthbert, to discuss his role, RTB's new funding and how it hopes to grow from hip hop history.
Triller's New CEO on Its Metrics and Music Controversies
Social video app Triller is emerging from several very public spats over music licensing and its metrics. Newly appointed CEO Mahi de Silva spoke with entertainment reporter Sam Blake about Triller's future, its new 'fight club' content and rumors that the company may soon offer an IPO.
Long Beach, Space Beach
Elon Musk's SpaceX is joining the aerospace hub in Long Beach with a new 6.5 acre facility. The aerospace giant will join a growing roster of space companies in Long Beach including Virgin Orbit, Rocket Lab, Boeing, Relativity Space and SpinLaunch.
Takeaways from our Entertainment Tech Summit
From NFTs to augmented reality and streaming services, there was a lot to explore in our first entertainment tech summit, Intersect. Here are six takeaways from a day full of discussion and networking:
GM Taps LA Startups for Its EV Charging Network
Electric vehicle charging startup EVgo announced it's joined two other L.A.-based companies to help build General Motors' nationwide electric vehicle charging network. The announcement comes as a wave of new EV models are ready to hit the market and governments are pushing plug-in technology.
Borrowing COVID-era Methodology to Treat Parkinson’s
A Thousand Oaks startup that is creating gene therapies aimed at permanently treating devastating diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's announced Thursday it received $140 million in capital. Capsida Biotherapeutics works with small encapsulated viruses that can target specific cells in the body.
Using the Blockchain to Transform Storytelling
L.A.-based creative agency Brud has already stoked controversy and curiosity around Lil' Miquela, a computer-generated virtual influencer with over 3 million Instagram followers. But their plans go far beyond ad campaigns and social followers. Their strategy, they say, extends to rethinking how storytelling is done and how fans interact with creative works.
Startup of the Week: Toucan
Scrolling through Twitter could soon help you learn another language. That's the idea behind Toucan, an edtech startup whose browser extension translates words on your screen from English to one of seven languages — soon to be 11. The Santa Monica-based company closed a $4.5 million seed round this week.
Weekly Graphic: Nonfungible Tokens' Growth
The total value of NFTs (nonfungible tokens) in circulation during the first quarter of 2021 was over $2 billion: about 8x that asset class' value during the previous three years combined, according to data collected by Nonfungible.com.